Book Description

For fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Sword & Sorceress", Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, and Jennifer Roberson, here is a new story of a woman's fight against an ancient evil.

When her life is torn apart by sorcery and murder, young Caina Amalas joins the mysterious Ghosts, the legendary spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar. She learns the secrets of disguise and stealth, of assassination and infiltration.

But even that might not be enough to save her.

For the evil that destroyed her family seeks to devour the entire world...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.

He has written the "Demonsouled" trilogy of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write the "Ghosts" sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the "Beginner's Guide" series of computer books, and numerous other works.

For fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Sword & Sorceress", Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, and Jennifer Roberson, here is a new story of a woman's fight against an ancient evil.

When her life is torn apart by sorcery and murder, young Caina Amalas joins the mysterious Ghosts, the legendary spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar. She learns the secrets of disguise and stealth, of assassination and infiltration.

But even that might not be enough to save her.

For the evil that destroyed her family seeks to devour the entire world...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.

He has written the "Demonsouled" trilogy of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write the "Ghosts" sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the "Beginner's Guide" series of computer books, and numerous other works.

About the Author

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas. He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works. Visit his website at: http://www.jonathanmoeller.com

I really enjoyed this book. It had a solid plot that moved at a pretty good clip for the entire novel. The main character was likeable and interesting, if a bit simplistic. Overall the characters were lacking in depth, to some degree, but it didn't particularly detract from the story which was very well written.

There were only three reviews so I felt compelled to add my recommendation - hopefully more people will download and enjoy!

I liked this story although there could've been more character development, but the mistakes drove me crazy! It's one thing to have a mistake here and there, but there were sometimes several per page, missing words, words transposed, extra words, the wrong word....It totally messed with the reading experience! If it had been more readable I would've rated this at least 4 stars.

This would absolutely be a 4 1/2 star book based solely on storyline. However, the sheer number of editing issues that completely jarred me out of the story takes off 1 1/2 stars. There were times words were misspelled, the wrong word was used, & several instances of entire words missing. The exact same sentence describing the faces in the bloodstone was used every time the stone was described. That being said, the story was entirely engrossing & I couldn't put it down! I will absolutely read the next in the series & recommend to anyone who can get over the grammar issues.

Caina Amalas kills her mother at the tender age of eight after she casts a necromancy spell which completely wipes the minds of everyone in Caina's home, including her father. He had been a kind, loving, gentle man who spent countless hours teaching her. When the necromancer, Maglarion took her captive, he used her blood to power some of his spells, and killed her father in front of her. Weeks later, she manages to escape her cell, get the keys to the dungeon off the dead guard, and frees herself. Naked and armed with only a rusty pin from the hinge of her cell door, she tries to defend herself from the only two people alive in the fortress. They introduce themselves as Ghosts, and offer to find her somewhere for her to go in safety. Along the way, she decides she wants to kill the necromancers, and anyone involved with them. She then becomes A Child of the Ghosts. The Ghosts are the eyes and ears of the Emperor. They are also assassins and spies, taking care of rogue necromancers, sorcerers, and enemies of the State who pose major political problems for the Emperor. The Ghosts' training takes years, and they become formidable weapons. Spoken of only in whispers, the majority of the populace don't believe they even exist, and Caina is about to become one.

This book is phenomenal! On par with the authors, Robert Jordan, David Eddings, and Anne Bishop. This fantasy novel is fare to be savored and enjoyed! The cast of characters is wide enough to be quite fascinating, but not so many that one gets lost keeping track of them. Moeller's world-building is as good as many world famous fantasy writers. His heroine has so much strength for one so young, and the driving need to punish the one responsible for the death of her beloved father. This novel had me hooked from the very first pages. The pace is relentless and riveting. I finished this book in less than a day...I simply devoured it. I cannot rate this book high enough, and if six stars were available, I would award them. If you love fantasy, do not miss this book. Very, very highly recommended! I eagerly await reading the rest of the series.Read more ›

I've read the entire ghost series so far and love them! Great intrigue, fantastic situations, great descriptive scenes in a VERY richly devised society. Some of my examples may have spoilers, so caution!

Seriously though, I would give every book in the entire series a 5 star rating were it not for the GROSS grammatical errors. For instance "...and his HILT dropped to the HAND of his sword." This and many MANY other editing (or conversion(?)) errors that should NOT have appeared in a professionally written book were very detracting from the story.

This and other things such as story errors (the author's fault in this case - not the editors) inconsistencies such as (to name just one)of WHEN Caina had seen her father last, in some areas throughout the series the author says she saw him last in the library, glassy eyed and unmoving, in other places it mentions dead by the hand of Maglarion, which occured an uncounted number of days later in Maglarion's hideout. This is an inconsistency that should NOT happen! There are many more of these story inconistencies here and there.

As I said, were it not for these egregious errors, I would rate the entire series, EVERY book, a 5 Star Rating.

What a shame to have such a good story to tell, but too many typos and mixed up or missing words to be able to read with enjoyment. I would happily pay for the complete series if not for that fact. It feels more like translating than reading! The author only needs to find a good proofer and I am sure that sales will soar.

Excellent story of necromancy, magi, and personal strength built through innate intelligence and determination. Caina is a young girl as the story starts, the daughter of a good father and a mother filled with hate. As her family is taken from her as she, herself, suffers in a most horrible manner, the situation provides the impetus for training that rarely comes to a female. With a good mentor and several experienced instructors, each of whom are "ghosts," defenders of the empire and the people that live in that empire, Caina develops skills that will be needed to help guard against the spells and danger that a 400-year-old evil magus inflicts upon all he and his magi encounter.

While the story is excellent, the text has several errors, particularly words that appear to have been generated through a spell-check or missed by a grammar-check. A good editor would help eliminate the errors in mis-chosen and missing words, but each of the many errors may be easily overlooked through understanding the context.

More About the Author

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair of a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.

He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, the TOWER OF ENDLESS WORLDS urban fantasy series, THE GHOSTS series about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE sequence of computer books, and numerous other works.